Dave the Diver: In the Jungle review – a return to the wild blue yonder

Dave the Diver is a rich adventure game that’s buoyed by snappy fishing and diving mechanics and a multi-part story quest with twists in every chapter. Its brand-new In the Jungle DLC is a worthy companion, introducing a lengthy new story filled with charming characters, new exploration challenges, a new combat system, new mini-games, and much more.

There’s enough here that In the Jungle could be considered a pseudo-sequel.

With over 10 hours of new content – and plenty more if you’re a completionist – you can jump into this adventure and keep diving for days at a time. It’s moreish, bright and ultra-fun, building on everything that’s come before it.

A fresh lake to explore

What’s most remarkable about Dave the Diver: In the Jungle is just how much of it there is – not only in size, but in its bounty of ideas.

As you begin this DLC, Dave and his crew are called to the new jungle location of Utara, inspired by real-life Southeast Asia, to help with a strange problem: ancient fish-beasts have been beaching themselves along a village coastline, to the shock of the local community.

The natural fauna is in revolt and there are rumblings in the jungle – strange creatures are emerging from the grassland, animals are going wild, fish are rotting, and peace is hard to come by.

With a specialisation in diving and natural recovery, Dave and his crew – though outsiders – are uniquely positioned to journey throughout Utara, restoring the natural balance of the world.

In this particular DLC, there is a deep tension between Dave’s team and the villagers. They are notably distrusting of outsiders, and it takes time to forge meaningful relationships and eventually get along with everyone. It adds layers to this journey.

You’re not just diving to explore the cause of natural disasters. You’re also diving to make peace with the villagers, and to help them restore some semblance of normality to their own lives.

Occasionally, the plot leans into uncomfortable territory – particularly as Dave’s wider crew begins to expand and find refuge within the village – but the story largely charts a balance of realistic tension and acceptance, becoming more about respectful cultural appreciation than appropriation.

The further you travel through In the Jungle‘s multi-part plot, the more the inner depth of the Utara people shines through, and the more of their culture is revealed. There’s one particularly novel segment that demonstrates this approach clearly, as one of the local villagers shares their music on a traditional instrument, then learns how to play electric guitar from a stereotypical American guitar player, in a mini-game inspired by Guitar Hero.

An abundance of mini-games

Beyond this lovely one-shot guitar battle, you can also explore an array of other new mini-games in Into the Jungle, each of which reveals more about individual characters or circumstances. There’s a new pop-shooting mini-game, an animal-stacking puzzle game (which rules), gardening mini-games, and plenty more to discover.

There’s also a new combat aspect to exploration. As well as exploring a new ocean lake environment to discover the cause of the animal beachings, you’ll also be venturing through the titular jungle and into temple ruins. As you wander, you’ll face off with all sorts of native fauna, including wild monkeys, spiders, snakes, and other beasties, all of which must be defeated in turn-based battles that earn you XP and special items.

While at first, this seems like a surface-level addition, the battle system is actually fairly deep, and requires you to grind to level up and gain the skills to tackle the horrors waiting within the darker temple stages.

It’s a good thing that the system is so moreish that you’ll want to pursue its upper limits. Turn-based combat here is reaction-based, so you’ll need to watch attacks closely to know when to guard and when to tap for extra damage. Like the Paper Mario games, it’s all a matter of rhythm and timing, and you’ll need to get it right if you want to put away creatures before they fell you.

This system is a novel addition to Dave the Diver that helps to diversify your days.

Sometimes, you’ll be exploring the village, Animal Crossing style, completing mini-requests for villagers and even catching fish or bugs to fill out new encyclopedia pages. Other days, you’ll be heading off to the jungle, or even diving into the ocean, to seek out some new item or quest.

The ocean-to-plate gameplay remains as satisfying as ever

Beyond these new arrivals, Dave the Diver: In the Jungle also does a satisfying job with reviving the water exploration and sushi-making crux of the base game, introducing a new ocean location with its own set of challenges, alongside new fish and dish types.

It feels like there’s more danger in this diving, with an array of new hostile fish to avoid or defeat, as well as some new and more deadly boss fishes (and crocodiles, manta ray, and more). You’ll need to stock up your weaponry – and continually upgrade it – to have any hope of survival.

Despite the added challenge, this aspect of exploration remains entirely satisfying and moreish, and part of why Dave the Dave: In the Jungle is so compelling. Each in-game day, you’ll wake and dream of catching more fish, of exploring further, and seeing where the overarching narrative will take you next – whether that’s to murky depths, through ancient civilisations, or beyond.

Dave the Diver: In the Jungle is a clever DLC in that fashion. It takes everything that made the original Dave the Diver so intriguing and gives players more, with new twists, and new ideas, to make the whole experience feel fresh again. Its long length also works in its favour.

For those fans who’ve been waiting for the next Dave the Diver, this DLC more than bridges a gap. It arrives as a near full-length sequel to its predecessor, at just a fraction of the cost. Anyone wishing to revisit the Blue Hole, or anyone thinking about travelling there as a newbie, should make time for this wild and wonderful jungle trip.

A PC copy of Dave the Diver: Into the Jungle was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.

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